If you're running a small form factor and want to X-fire the reference models actually fit the board. Also because the cards are so close together its imperative that the air gets pushed out the back instead onto the other card.

Small form factor and cfx or sli just seems like a poor idea to me ofc unless under water. Usually it's a much better idea to get a single higher end card than two lesser cards in sli or cfx for for sff. People who get two high end cards usually spend the money to put them under water in that instance since they are already deeply invested.

I don't even know why I even got myself thinking that AMD would fix their DX11 issues with Polaris. They were advertising some sort of new "DX11 command center" or a revised front end system that would dramatically lower the inherent DX11 overhead of GCN. The fact that they haven't fixed it means that the RX 480 might look decent on reviewer's i7-K powered test rigs but it will be poor in the average guy's i3 rig. This also probably means that Polaris drivers for DX11 are single threaded, which is going to add on to the hurt for people using older processors such as Sandy Bridge or Vishera. Way to go AMD.
Speak for yourself, man. I have a 380x which is self admittedly not a whole lot faster than a 380 4GB and I have next to no desire to "upgrade" to this card. Its only around 50-60% faster which makes it a tough sell for people who got 380s as late as a year ago. I've seen other members in this thread with a 7970 and a 280x express disappointment in the 480 and how they are going to stay with their cards.

So 60% faster than your current card for 199$ is a complete disappointment for you? I guess I'm completely crazy for upgrading my 290 to a GTX 1070 then.

You know, whenever AMD had the upper hand in a next gen release there were always some sort of leak performance from Nv next gen card usually withing 48 hrs. So far I've heard nothing from the 1060 rumored performance.to try and spoil rx480 field parade. Will we see a 1060 at $199?
Take a look at steam survey. The #1 card there is the 970...would you look at that, a mainstream card. It was and never was a 980ti. Furthermore, there is a pretty big uptick from dx11 to dx12 cards.

In all, that will be a vastly different landscape by year end holiday. How muich will the 1060 be a factor? Time will tell.

You know, whenever AMD had the upper hand in a next gen release there were always some sort of leak performance from Nv next gen card usually withing 48 hrs. So far I've heard nothing from the 1060 rumored performance.to try and spoil rx480 field parade. Will we see a 1060 at $199?
Take a look at steam survey. The #1 card there is the 970...would you look at that, a mainstream card. It was and never was a 980ti. Furthermore, there is a pretty big uptick from dx11 to dx12 cards.

In all, that will be a vastly different landscape by year end holiday. How muich will the 1060 be a factor? Time will tell.

Well this is the thing, most people in that bracket will just buy whoever has a new card on the market, they are probably less swayed by enthusiast hype like exactly how much performance per watt etc.